Having a hard time deciding which atv is best for my situation.Usage will be split between work and play evenly. Uses will be: trail riding, hunting(dragging out whitetails),snowplowing a 800' driveway, firewood hauling and all the things the Maine woods has to offer. At this time I'm leaning towards the ARCTIC CAT 2001 500 MANUAL, because of it's features. Examples: 2x4 and 4x4,500cc liquid cooled Suzuki motor, good ground clearance,gearbox with low-range,good riding suspension and the list goes on. The consumer and magazine reviews are good, it seems like an all around sound choice for work and play. My choice will see some real usage and reliability is also a concern.RESEARCH and owners seem to pay big dividends, so help me out guys (and gals)!

 

Madcat:
Hey, just sent a rather lengthy post over in the other forum, hope you got a chance to see it. Hopefully a few other AC guys will see this post here and give a few thoughts as well. As for the reliability, I've got about 760 very hard working miles on my 'Cat with no problems what so ever. I did manage to get stupid one time, and catch a little air (on accident ), where I landed square on my airbox on a stump. That broke a small hole in the bottom of the box, but was easily replaced for around $18 or so, if I remember right. Again, that was my own stupidity, not a fault of the machine. You ought to talk to Boner, Andy and Irichard over in the AC forum, I think they've got about the most miles on their machines that I can think of right now. Boner has around 2700, and considering what he's done to his 'Cat, I'd say it's amazing it's still alive-check out his pictures and web pages, that says enough right there. He's had a couple problems and could testify to the strength of the 'Cats in extreme conditions. Andy's right up there in mileage as well, if I remember right, I think around 1600 or so??? I don't believe he has had any trouble at all. Irichard rides up in Alaska -take a look at his pics, there's another good example of extreme conditions, again with no problems. Basically, if you're concerned about reliablity, don't be, they're one tough machine.

I've got a few pics up at the link below, but will have a bunch more in the next few days-maybe a week. Another thing to consider is the undercarriage of the machines in question. AC is very well protected, and has a full length plastic skid plate, which is very tough, and slides easily over rocks, logs and other objects.

Whatever you end up with, I would also recommend a winch, and stick stoppers/cv boot protectors. Those should be required protection on all machines. Basically cheap insurance in protecting your joints from damage and possible costly replacement.

Again, best of luck with the decision.

Mike

 

If you lean towards work, I heartily endorse what Cowboy has to say. If you lean towards play, I recommend the Sportsman from Polaris. Since you said about a 50-50 split, drive both around and get whichever feels the best for you. Don't be scared of the automatics as they are vastly improved from just a few years ago in terms of durability, waterproffness, and belt life. In fact, the Polaris comes with a 'lifetime' belt warranty.
If your trail riding leans towards technical riding more than speed, the Cat might be better for that, too.
Smoothness of ride goes to Sportsman, but the cost is a LOT of zerks to grease.
Good luck.

The Polaris Magnum is a good machine, but I don't think it offers much that a 500 Cat doesn't.
Some might say Honda Rubicon, or even Traxter. I don't have enough experince with either to have an opinion either way, other than to say the Traxter is VERY much for work.